I enjoyed Professor Kurashige's lecture on racism against Asians in the United States. In the U.S., there is tremendous diversity as much as there is an entire racist culture in America. Chester Rowell is well-known as one of the first anti-Japanese men. At first he often referred to the South to make analogies to slavery and Japanese. The funny thing is, by 1920’s he changes his tune and he goes around the country telling why we should NOT exclude the Japanese. Especially during World War II, he was an advocate as to why we should not put Japanese into concentration, or internment, camps. This topic really reminded me that even though we still see racism today, there is always opportunities to make things right, and see the benefits to diversity. Of course, the professor mentioned adults doing that for commercial empire, but in a primary classroom, I could present this topic for a growth mindset attitude. William Seward who was the Secretary of State and a US Senator was an advocate for getting the Chinese workers to the west of the US, but they still couldn't become citizens. Asians are the only minority group that could not legally become citizens until late in the second World War. Once citizenship becomes the issue, I think even my younger students would be able to relate. During our unit on immigration, I think the students would love to hear stories from this time period with Asian history involved. We could compare and contrast the racism of Asians to what is known of the struggle within their own heritage. 

The struggle between the isolationist and internationalist during the 1920s seem to mirror much of what is going on today in the U.S. Today, of course, the population being targeted in our immigration policy is people from predominantly Muslim countries. The echoes of the Chinese Exclusion Acts can’t be ignored when you think about the prominence of southern and more conservative states and their role in imposing migratory restrictions. I can’t help but wonder why we seem so hardwired to fear people who may look differently, dress differently, or believe differently than we do.

Throughout the lecture, it was interesting to have my preconceived notions of racism challenged. Before today’s class, I had assumed that the anti-Asian racism in California was essentially the same throughout the rest of the U.S. I also assumed that the reason why California was featured so prominently was because of the geographical proximity between California and China. One thing that history has borne out is that eventually, there is a great deal of assimilation that takes place among all ethnic groups that come to the U.S. The powerful for of U.S. culture is difficult to deny and to a certain extent, there was and still is, this desire to become American. 

I have to confess that I did not know much of the history of Asian in the United States. I knew about Chinese influx immigration labor to work on the rail tracks in California (High School US history). Though, I had not idea about the State trying to get rid of them after that fact. I would have my high school students to compare and contrast the suffering and endurance both Asians and Latinos had to go through to be acknowledged as arm that supports and labors in the economy of CA.  Also, how the struggle continues in modern times.

I hope to use some of this text (if I can get it in time) in my Ethnic Studies course.  Many of my ninth grade students come with preconceived notions about others based on race, ethnic background, gender, etc.  In the beginning of the semester to get them to think about their identities, I asked the class to define race.  Thirty something brains in the class and they could not come up with a definition of race.  Is it skin color? Cultural norms? Ethnic background?  We were able to demystify the idea of race, however, I still would like to make it more tangible for them.  As we move forward into learning about the various experiences of folks in the US and how colonization affected people of color and indigenous folks, I am excited to possibly use this text to help students understand the ways in which "the system" discriminates.  It is tangible for students to see the interpersonal racism between each other and even within their own families, but I think it's a bit more difficult to see the insititutional, systematic racism that forces everyday people to be racist or discriminatory to each other.  With that being said, I am concerned about how difficult this text might be for my ninth graders.  On average. students seem to be fairly at level, or almost at level, so I definitely need to scaffold the text.  Maybe I'll chunk the text? Choose certain pages? I also like to do reading circles with students where they can process and understand the material together before going into a large class discussion.... 

Professor Kurashige began his lecture with a provocative discussion about myths and how we can and should deconstruct deeply held assumptions and beliefs.  He then related this concept to cultural stereotypes and how within groups of people there is a lot of diversity and so there is a danger if one generalizes and compartmentalizes all people within a group in one and the same box.  I was inspired by his opening statements and began to consider how one of the roles of an education is to do just that; to deconstruct myths by confronting, challenging and thinking about the stereotypes that we hold so deeply about others.  This is an important and necessary exercise to commit to with my students because so often they generalize and take as truth  what they hear without thinking trough the assumption.  So as a teacher, one of my  roles is to teach my students how to do this, how to challenge and deconstruct myths and stereotypes through thought, empathy and exposure to other viewpoints.  By presenting the myths and then presenting multiple resouces and viewpoints that counteract that myth, I can guide my students through this process.  That is the transformative power of an education.   By approaching any issue in my classroom through the prism of a debate, I can hopefully cause shifts in the perspectives of my students.  

Great comments and thoughts from everyone on this, made me think about my own teaching.  This was a very stimuating lecture and facincating book.  I even appreciated Prof. Kurashige's explanation of how he came to write this book and how he researched it, finding some of his own preconceived concepts challenged, and other historical narratives challenged.  The focus on Rowell was very personal for me hearing that he started his newspaper career in Fresno and was a proponent of the anti-Chinese movement in the San Joaquin Valley, where I teach now, but then shifted and changed his views to the point that he becomes a proponent of Asian rights in California and the United States.  Education does change peoples' views, very encouraging to hear.  Obviously, we all know very well that racism has not gone away and that it is still certainly apart of all of our communities, unfortunately, still in the San Joaquin, but this is an example of how we can help students to see how one person can change and help bring change to others.  We all need to be open to challengeing our assumptions.

But also it is a reminder for me that history and life itself is complex.  I talked a little with Prof. Kurashige about Bakersfield and Fresno and the Asian communites and the research he has done.  Very interesting and personal stories of people and families who kept going and also a narrative of those who, like Rowell stood up and said, "No, I am not going along with this ignorance."  We even talked briefly on Pres Theodore Roosevelt and his play nationally on all this and just what a complicated figure he was.  There is something to love and hate for everyone there, but I think this kind of analysis and reflection helps us connect our students to an ever increasingly complex world where 'news' and 'history' gets challenged all the time and our students wonder what is trustworthy? What is believable?  There is certainly racism, ethnocentrism, sexism and such that we need to confront but in doing so we also need to be careful of the same generlizations that those beliefs stem from.  Thank you Prof. Kurashige for making me consider my own.

I agree with both of you and how this lecture by both professors really made me look at how I present history to my students. I think this concept of "flip floppers' or people who change their political positions as being wrong or the enemy in history is an interesting concept to research and take a deeper look into what where the motivating factors that led to the changing of their views. I could use this concept in my 8th grade history class during the American Revolution and how some people changed from being Patriots to Loyalists, such as, Benedict Arnold. Or why some Loyalist changed their view after reading Thomas Paine's Common Sense. This can also apply to today. I have students who have said that during the election they and their parents were Republicans, but since the election due to some of the expressed views of Trump their family has changed their mind but they feel uncomfortable in sharing this new view, because when they do people have ridiculed them.